94 Rangers temp doesnt hold steady

[RonD]

Sorry missed you previous post, have to unscrew fan Clutch to get shroud on.

Yes, fan shroud fits in two slots at the bottom and can be wire tied at the top.

What coolant are you running?
Most is already 50/50 pre-mix, so i doubt that's the problem.

When engine is warmed up and running feel the upper then lower rad hose.
Upper will be hot, and tight.
Lower should be almost as hot and just as tight.
Raise RPM while squeezing the lower hose, it shouldn't get very soft, a little softer maybe.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I threw non diluted in and then straight water. Was told it was a 10 quart system so I tried for a 40/60 mix, but only got about 2 quarts of water in. I should check it again though. And I never buy pre diluted. You get 2x the coolant for $2 more. And mixing it is easy.
I pulled the radiator out and did it that way, and zip tied it on and made sure it wouldn't move and run the fan.
I'll check the hoses when I drive the truck today.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Well. The fan spins when the truck is warm. And the fan sticks out passed the shroud about an inch. I think I have an aftermarket radiator since the shroud doesn't exactly fit inside the fins, and it's supposed to be a 10qt system, and the truck only takes 6.

Also, it still running hot, but when I drive, it dips down below the N for a little bit then go back up to O.

 

[RangerNielsen]

UPDATE!
If I dont let the truck warm up, and start driving, after about 15 mins, the temp will go up to if not passed the L, and only come down when you put the clutch in and stomp the throttle. It then goes down to O, and a little while later dips below N.

The radiator is not clogged, and the hoses are how RonD stated they should be above. When the truck is warm and off, the fan can spin, bit has resistance. I dont really wanna shove anything in the fan to see if it stops.
For the record, the truck is on 32s, if that makes a difference.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Alright, so I replaced the thermostat because people were saying mine was sticky. I put the thermostat in correctly, but I think I either put the gasket on wrong or did not torque the bolts down all the way. the truck will over heat, and it leaks coolant out of the thermostat housing, and rad cap, and overfill. The upper hose also swells up.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I fixed the thermostat a while ago, truck still pegged out temp. I replaced the fan clutch, fan blade, hosed out the fins (truck has seen a lot of mud use), and new radiator cap. I flushed out the coolant, and put some flush chemical and water in and ran it, and my heater worked as well, and truck seemed to have cooled correctly. I then drained out the radiator and put straight water in and went for a quick drive, and the truck started to run hot (about M on the gauge where it usually sat on N before all this fun stuff). The truck also was not boiling when I got it home. Do I have more issues, or should I wait and flush it again and add coolant/water and see if it still runs hot?

Also, how do I get all the air out of the upper hose? The upper hose runs over the top of the alternator. I do have a coolant funnel, and have been neglecting to put the truck face up a slight hill.

Furthermore, when I add coolant with the coolant funnel, Ill fill it and wait for the bubbles to stop, and if I start the truck, it will push small bubbles out, then some bigger ones, then alot of coolant, possibly overfilling the funnel, and then suck all the coolant out of the funnel. Is this normal or do I have a BHG?

 

[RangerNielsen]

While waiting around, I decided to tinker with the truck. I reset the upper radiator hose, added more straight water, and started the truck. The upper radiator isn't leaking anymore, but there was tons of exhaust, not sure from where though. Turned off the truck (was only running for maybe a minute), and the coolant res was slowly bubbling. Went to pop up the pressure release on my cap, and coolant shot out. Do I definitely have a blown head gasket now? It seemed to have instantly pressurized.

 

[RonD]

Yes, that would be a blown head gasket, or cracked head

Do the glove test to ID which cylinder(s) have the leak

Cold engine
Disable coil, you want a no start
Remove rad cap and overflow hose
Block overflow opening, vacuum cap works
Put latex glove over rad cap opening seal it with rubber band, balloon or condom works as well

Crank engine, glove will start to bounce if there is a cylinder leak

Remove 1 spark plug at a time and crank engine
When glove stops bouncing the last plug removed was the leaking cylinder, put plug back in to confirm.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Lube or no lube? Haha. Damn, that's not the news I was hoping for. I was reading around so when it was pressurized that quick, I knew I had an issue. I'll do the glove test and see what happens.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I've also started to wonder how I blew the head gasket if I did. The truck ran fine when I parked it, and the next time I started it, the head gasket is blown.

 

[RonD]

While it isn't common a head gasket can just blow for a few reasons.
Long term pinging/knocking pits the cylinder ring on the head gasket, a weak spot forms.
Just as overheating causes the head metal to expand more than normal crushing a section of the gaskets cylinder ring, extreme cold can contract the metal causing a cold seal issue(this was a big issue with the first MLS head gaskets).
The casting on many heads have a weak spot between valve seats, after many heating and cooling cycles the weak spot just cracks, allowing cylinder pressure to be vented into cooling system.

 

[RangerNielsen]

That makes sense. It hasn't been too cold near me recently so I don't think that is the cause. The truck used to run hot and boil over, but I would never let it get to the H on the gauge. It boiled every time I got home before I put the new fan clutch in. Would also start to over heat with the old fan clutch, but again I wouldn't let it get to the H.

 

[RangerNielsen]

Since I am thinking about it, could the coolant flush chemical have caused my head gasket to blow?
Also, when I drained the radiator and put straight water in, the truck was kinda cold, but no t first start kinda cold. I then went for a drive to see how it ran, and I got on it decently hard, but the truck did run for a few minutes before that, and the temp gauge was on M. Could this also have potentially blown my head gasket?

 

[RangerNielsen]

Well. Head gasket is blown. I had a buyer for the truck last week, but I decided against selling it. But he's still interested in it, so I'm selling it. It was a good truck while it lasted, but I don't need another project at this time.

 

[RonD]

Since I am thinking about it, could the coolant flush chemical have caused my head gasket to blow?
Also, when I drained the radiator and put straight water in, the truck was kinda cold, but no t first start kinda cold. I then went for a drive to see how it ran, and I got on it decently hard, but the truck did run for a few minutes before that, and the temp gauge was on M. Could this also have potentially blown my head gasket?

No, can't see flushing causing the issue.
Straight water actually transfer heat faster than coolant mix, but boils under pressure at 250deg, 50/50 mix boils at 265deg, 50/50 also doesn't freeze below 32deg.
Ford temp gauge shows 225deg when at 1/2 way

That being said how long have you owned this truck?
Have you flushed it before?
Could a previous owner have used a head gasket sealer?
Flushing would remove most of that sealer, causing the leak to come back.


But truck is down the road now so someone else can deal with it.